Russia launched a wave of missiles targeting Kharkiv and nearby cities in the north east of Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least seven people and destroying civilian infrastructure.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city with more than 1.3mn residents, has come under increasing Russian aerial assaults since Moscow opened a new front to the north of it earlier this month.
Russian forces have surged across the border and through some of Ukraine’s hastily built new fortifications to grab several towns and villages in the past fortnight. They are now pushing into the town of Vovchansk and engaged in urban combat with Ukrainian forces, as police rush to evacuate civilians caught in the crossfire.